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Wednesday, March 18, 2020

BBC could scale back output if hit by coronavirus



BBC director general Tony Hall has told MPs there's a chance that part of its services could be "out of action" for a spell if the corporation's newsrooms suffered an outbreak of coronavirus.

Lord Hall said the BBC is "intent on keeping absolutely everything open".

Asked whether there could be a scaling back of services, he replied: "There could be - I hope there won't be."

Executives are "working through how we could cope with" a service being out of action, he added.

He said they are looking at how to ensure "we can keep broadcasting the information that the people need to have", but that the BBC is "gaming out" what would happen if many staff go sick.

"You could imagine a local station or some other part of our news operation being out of action for a period."

Additional story at BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51851414